Carlos Sainz makes 'extremely tough' Baku declaration after red flag record broken

Carlos Sainz has revealed the "extra risk" worry the F1 grid felt during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, which put the "best drivers in the world" on the edge. 

Six drivers crashed during qualifying at the Baku City Circuit, as strong gusts of wind and light rainfall caused chaos. 

The session took 118 minutes to complete and featured six red flags, breaking the record for the most red flags during a qualifying session. 

Charles Leclerc and Oscar Piastri were two of the drivers who crashed, highlighting that the conditions even caught out the very best on the grid. 

It offered an opportunity to the midfield drivers, one which Sainz and Liam Lawson both pounced on to secure a shock second and third on the grid, respectively. 

As explained by the Spaniard, the conditions meant that a crash could still occur even if no mistake had been made, creating a major challenge to push harder.

"We are I believe the 20 best drivers in the world," Sainz told Sky F1. "If you have six of them crashing like we had, it's because the conditions are extremely tough. 

"We are all under the possibility that you've done nothing wrong and you crash because you haven't taken an extra risk.

"And even if you don't take an extra risk, you can still crash, which is a bit unfair in a way. It's what the conditions are for all of us, you can still do a corner the same way you did before, but there's no grip, and you crash. 

"And yeah, it shows that [in qualifying], it was very easy to make mistakes. But yeah, I'm glad we kept it. But anyway, it was fun also."